U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,394 discloses a connector housing in a passageway of which is positioned a terminal housing against a forward stop. A retaining member has a transverse section seated in an aperture in the connector housing. First leg members extend outwardly from the transverse section and have first sections extending along an inside surface of the housing forward of the aperture and second sections cantilevered from the inside surface which extend toward the axis and toward the front end of the connector housing with free ends of the leg members engaging a transverse rib on the terminal housing thereby retaining the terminal housing in the opening. Second leg members also extend outwardly from the transverse member in the same direction as the first members; they are planar and longer than the first leg members, extend along the inside surface of the connector housing and have free ends disposed in slots in the forward stop. The second leg members are formed with a slight bend to provide a spring bias when inserted in the slots tending to hold the retaining member in place.
One problem with this arrangement is the difficulty in positioning the ends of the second leg members in the slots due to their bent form and their length which makes it difficult to position the retaining member in the connector housing. The first leg members perform dual functions of retaining the terminal housing in the connector housing and retaining the retaining member in position in the connector housing. The short length of the second sections of the first leg members provides substantially stiff sections that make it difficult to insert the terminal housing in or remove it from the connector housing. Moreover, extreme angles of the parts of the retaining member and severe forming operations to form the retaining member require more expensive material and also results in lower productivity and higher tooling costs and repairs thereof.